But we were committed, so I busted it to get going to try and fix everything in the two weeks left before company rolled into town.

The first thing I did was use a hammer to pull up the carpet tack strips that were nailed to the top of the treads and front of the risers. I had to use a chisel a couple of times to get the tack strips to lift up enough for the hammer to pull them loose.

I hadn’t ripped the carpet off the sides of the stair case or along the railing that first night …

… but the remnant carpet looked lame so off it came, too.

And then hundreds of staples had to get pulled out with pliers.

The super, tiny ones needed a small screw driver hammered underneath them to lift them up enough where I could grab them with pliers.

After four solid hours of ripping out staples and tack strips, I had some wicked awesome blisters. So here’s tip ladies: wear gloves for this part.

At this point I didn’t know how to proceed since as you can see in the picture above, the treads weren’t plywood or hardwood, but rather particle board that is notorious for leaching paint like a sponge. Plus it’s a lot coarser than plywood or hardwood steps. For 30 seconds, I really considered ripping up those cheapy particle board steps and putting down something that could be stained. But at $11 a tread, I was looking at a lot of money I still didn’t have.

So painting it was.

The nice thing about having particle board steps is that you don’t have to sand them down at all—in fact it’s a nightmare to even try. So the stained areas on the steps got a quick spot coat of KILZ …

… and then the whole thing got two heavy coats of oil-based primer.

And I was pleasantly surprised — the particle board took the paint very well. The first coat of primer sucked up a lot of paint and dried very light, but the second coat covered beautifully.

I had hoped two heavy coats of primer would hide all the staple holes everywhere.

Um, no.

After the first coat of primer it was pretty clear that no amount of paint was going to cover those bad boys.

So, tip #2: fill all the holes with wood putty and then sand smooth before priming and painting. It’s a total pain to have to go back to do that step after the painting has started.

Between my super-cautiousness-on-the-drying-times-after-the-floor-mess thing and the afore-mentioned issues with the rotting-back-stairs-and-dishwasher-and-painting-only-during-daylight thing, the prep work took a full week to complete before we were ready to start painting the finish colors.

Phew.

So for anyone wanting to paint their stairs – especially stairs with particle board treads, let’s recap how to do this the smart way.

Painting Your Stairs: Prep Work

1. Remove carpet and pad using pliers and the claw on the back of the hammer.

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Oh Niki, I feel sooooo sorry for you.. When trouble comes…it all comes at once, doesn't it? But I think you all have done a fantastic job with the stairs..I can't wait to see them, when you get the final paint on.. I don't have any stairs in my house..but if I did.. You have showed me..I DON'T want to paint them.hahahaha Can't wait to see the finished project..

Tack strips are the worse invention on the planet! Evil! Painful! I uncarpeted my small house so know this personally & painfully.A small pry bar, about $3.50-$5 is what you NEEDED for the tack strips by the way. It is like a mini crowbar. I so feel your pain.LOVED the photos of in progress, dishwasher etc. It takes a lot to make a home.

I love the picture of the kid on the counter when the dishwasher was being put in. I truly lol'ed.

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I’m Nike — that’s “Neeka” — a SAHM of six kids, age ten and under determined to THRIVE in spite of a layoff, bad economy and our household budget being slashed by half. I refuse to accept that creativity must be a casualty of financial hardship.

I created THRIVE to share my Rock-What-Ya-Got approach to living and crafting without spending a dime. No money. No shopping. No problem.